CNN Has Ratings Gains Across the Board in August while FXNC and MSNBC Shed Viewers Throughout All Dayparts

“New Day” is Up +36% in Total Viewers and +18% in 25-54 Ratings vs. CNN Programming a Year Ago;
AC 360 Ranks Second On Cable News at 8pm

MSNBC’s Flagship Program “The Rachel Maddow Show” Loses 47% of its Audience; FXNC Has Lowest Ratings in a Decade

CNN continued to post the most growth in cable news this month – increasing its audience in all key dayparts -- while FXNC and MSNBC had major ratings declines throughout all of its dayparts during the month of August compared to a year ago:

CNN’s newest program “New Day” saw substantial ratings gains compared to CNN programming a year ago and is the only morning cable news program to increase its audience growing +18% in the key demo rating (97k vs. 82k) and +36% in total viewers (277k vs. 204k). MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” was down -17% among 25-54 (125k vs. 150k) and decreased -9% in total viewers. FXNC’s “Fox and Friends” also lost viewers this August, decreasing -23% in the key demo rating and was down -3% in total viewers.

MSNBC experienced major ratings declines in August losing almost one half of its M-F primetime audience, while registering its lowest total viewer delivery since December 2007, and its lowest among P25-54 since August 2006. MSNBC, fueled this month by the strong performance of the network’s doc series “MSNBC Investigates” (Lock Up) and “MSNBC Specials” (Caught on Camera) also posted its lowest M-Su prime delivery among total viewers since December 2007.

This month, FXNC has posted some of its lowest ratings in over a decade, registering its lowest delivery in total day and M-F/M-Su primetime since August 2001 in the key demo 25-54 rating. FXNC also saw its lowest primetime delivery since July 2008 in total viewers.

Other CNN August highlights include:

“Erin Burnett Outfront” at 7pm posted double-digit growth this month increasing +14% from a year ago in the key demo (124k vs. 109k). EBO also ranked second this month, tying with “Hardball with Chris Matthews” in the key demo 25-54 rating. Matthews lost a substantial number of viewers vs. a year ago, dropping -42% among 25-54 (124k vs. 214k) and was down -45% in total viewers (480k vs. 867k), posting its lowest total viewer delivery since December 2007. “The Fox Report” at 7pm also saw audience declines, losing -34% in the demo 25-54 rating and decreasing -15% in total viewers, posting its lowest total viewers delivery since July 2008.

“AC 360” at 8pm was the #2 show on cable news topping MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” in both total viewers (515k vs. 483k) and the key demo rating (140k vs. 132k), and was the #1 show on CNN primetime in both P2+ and P25-54. “AC 360” was also the only show at 8pm to grow vs. year-ago, increasing +15% in the demo rating (140k vs. 122k) and +16% in total viewers (515k vs. 445k); while FXNC and MSNBC lost a notable amount of viewership during the time period. Hayes was down -43% in the demo (132k vs. 233k) and lost almost half of its total viewers (483k vs. 924k) compared to a year ago. MSNBC posted its lowest 8pm delivery since September 2006 in total viewers and since August 2005 in the key demo rating. “O’Reilly” lost one quarter (-25%) of its audience in the demo and was down -10% in total viewers. August represents “O’Reilly’s” lowest delivery since July 2008 in total viewers and lowest since May 2006 among 25-54 demo rating.

“Piers Morgan Live” saw a slight increase in total viewers (465k vs. 460k) vs. a year ago. “The Rachel Maddow Show” shed a substantial number of total viewers – dropping -43% (634k vs. 1.109m) and registering its lowest 9pm performance since August 2008 in total viewers and lowest since December 2007 in the key demo 25-54. “Hannity” was also down this month, losing -21% of its total viewer audience (1.611m vs. 2.040m), resulting in the program’s lowest delivery since December 2007 and lowest demo delivery since August 2001.

Anderson Cooper at 10 pm was up +10% in the demo rating (145k vs. 132k) and +12% in total viewers (423k vs. 379k) compared to a year ago. FXNC and MSNBC also shed viewers during this time period, with “The Last Word” down -44% in P25-54 rating (160k vs. 288k) and down -41% in total viewers (603k vs. 1.018m). “On the Record” was down -15% among demo 25-54 and down -18% among total viewers.